


How They Met

by peacenik0



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drunken Kissing, F/M, Fingerfucking, Hand Jobs, Pre-X-Files
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2019-07-06 09:15:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15883062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peacenik0/pseuds/peacenik0
Summary: Now updated with chapter 2! This will be a series!Prompt: A story/an au. Mulder and scully met at her fbi academy graduation party. They talked and flirted, and has a couple of drinks together. They had sex in the back patio of where the party was taking place. She writes down her number for him. He kisses her under a street lamp with his fingers on her clit. On his way home, he drops the slip of paper with her number. He kicks himself mentally for months. He could hardly remember her name, too. Until she walked through his office door.Authors note: It’s my AU, so Mulder is not color-blind. To be honest, I’m pretty sure Mulder was only color-blind in one episode, and it was never mentioned again anyway. Especially if you remember “Bad blood” where he does mention that Scully has red hair. In my story he can see all the colors.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [markwatneyandensemble](https://archiveofourown.org/users/markwatneyandensemble/gifts), [CultureisDarkBeer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CultureisDarkBeer/gifts).



\--- 

May 1991

The party is in Dupont Circle, at some swanky hotel that Mulder doesn’t care to know the name of. He feels uncomfortable in the Tuxedo that Diana insisted that he wear. This is not his scene. He is not good at circulating, at talking to people. Diana drug him here, she wanted to support a friend of hers that was graduating. Things between them had been difficult ever since he found out about her transfer to Europe. He wonders if they can even last through that kind of long distance relationship. Diana is better at the social mechanics of a party. She flutters easily from group to group, dispensing her steely charm. Mulder both admires and resents this about her. He hangs just outside the double doors that lead into the ballroom, watching the scene, but not participating in it.

“Quite the wallflower, aren’t you?” a young female voice says. 

“No, honestly, these kinds of parties aren’t really my thing,” he turns to face her. She smiles wide, and well, Mulder feels almost blinded. Truly awestruck.

“Funny, I used my extra sharp powers of deduction to figure that one out,” she says dryly with a raised eyebrow. There is an intelligent glint in her wide blue eyes. Mulder doesn’t know why, but he is immediately drawn to her. It could be her dry wit, but more likely it’s the the tight lacy black dress she is wearing. She’s slight, almost a full foot shorter than he is. Her hair is a deep shade of auburn, and pulled up in a twist, a few curls frame her face. She’s stunning, of course, but not his usual type. 

”Personally, I always preferred a quiet drink to these kind of fancy swareys, anyway,“ she says smiling.

“Well, I suppose we are alike that way.’ Mulder glances over to see that the bar’s mostly empty now.

“Do you want to grab a drink?” He asks her. 

“I suppose so,” she says with a smirk. They walk to the bar in lock-step, his tuxedo sleeve brushes against her arm. He doesn’t tell her about Diana. 

They are a few drinks in. A tendril of hair slips out of her updo, he tucks it behind her ear, and she leans into his touch. He can’t deny the spark that crackles between them.

“You know that you are supposed to congratulate someone when they graduate, right?” the young woman says teasingly. 

“I think I missed that lesson in finishing school,” he smirks towards her. 

“Smart ass,” she pushes his arm playfully. 

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he says leaning in towards her. He loses all sense of time and space when he looks into her eyes. His heart swells in a way that it never has for Diana, not even at the beginning of their relationship. Diana. Mulder realizes that she hasn’t even bothered to come looking for him.

“I think that you are also supposed to introduce yourself when you meet someone new,” she says dryly. At this point they have already talked about her stint in medical school, and how she was recruited by the FBI. He told her about his time at Oxford, and his work profiling. Names seemed almost perfunctory. 

“Is that right?” he deadpans.

“But I have also deduced that you are hopelessly socially inept, so I suppose I can let it slide, but just this once,” Her eyes are shining, and she is right, he is hopeless. 

“Fine,” he smirks. “I’m Mulder, uh, just Mulder,” he says emphasizing his last name.

“Well, Mulder, I’m Dana, it’s nice to meet you,” She reaches her hand out for a customary hand-shake. When he takes her hand, he feels chemistry and biology. He leans in closer to her, smelling a faint hint of her perfume, something clean, citrus. Their faces are close, and she dips her chin a bit, lingering close to his lips. He closes the distance between them, a stolen kiss. The second their lips touch he feels an electricity pulsing between them.

“The pleasure is all mine,” he whispers against her mouth.  
After a few more drinks, they are drunk, and desperate for each other. They find a private patio a few floors up, where they can be alone. The door is locked, and he searches his pockets for an implement to open it with. Dana pulls a pin out of her hair, and hands it to him.

“Ah, resourceful, I like that in a woman,” he chuckles. As he drunkenly struggles to jimmy the hairpin in the lock, he hears her laughing. 

“You look like you could use some help,” Dana giggles. 

“Usually, I’m better at this,” Mulder says cursing his current lack of finesse. 

“Well, I would certainly hope so.”

Finally the bolt turns and and the two of them stumble outside. It’s springtime, and D.C. is magical, white cherry blossoms flitter through the night air. They are several stories up, and he can see the Capitol Building all lit up. Dana is luminescent, otherworldly almost. The alcohol streaming through his blood, and the freshness of spring air heighten every touch between them. They kiss again, and again, and finally her tongue slides against his like velvet. Mulder drinks her in, the taste of alcohol on her tongue feeds his own intoxication. Dana breaks first.

“Uh, I’m not usually in the habit of kissing strange men that I just met,” the breeze teases the curls around her face. 

“Me either,” he jokes, and kisses her again. As drunk as he is, there is not a thought of Diana, or his life with her. There is only Dana, and the way she feels in his arms. She presses against him tighter. It feels right. His fingers find her nipples through the lace of her dress, and she sighs into his mouth. Soon he has her smashed up against the gray stone in a dark corner of the patio.

She clumsily unbuttons his pants, reaches her hand down to grab his now burgeoning erection. He hisses at the feel of her small hand on his member, stroking up and down. 

“Do you have a condom?” she asks.

“Uh, no, actually, I don’t, uh, usually do this kind of thing,” Mulder says a bit sheepishly. 

“I suppose that we are alike that way,” Dana says the wind is gently blowing the hair from her face.  
“But, there are other things we could do,” he waggles his eyebrows at her suggestively. Dana rolls her eyes at him. 

“Well, just sweep me off my feet, why don’t ya?” she slurs. And despite her barb, he finds himself totally smitten.

Mulder sweeps his hand up her thigh, to find that she is wearing thigh-high panty-hose. This is a big turn on for him, and he wishes he could see them better. His fingers pull the elastic of her panties to the side, then they find her swollen sex.

“Like this?” he asks as his fingers swirl around her clit. Her hand is pumping him up and down, he thinks he might explode. 

“Yes, like that,” she breathes out. As they kiss and caress each other, their sighs of pleasure dissolve into the night sky above them. 

Mulder offers to walk her down to hail a cab, and Dana had hastily accepted. As they walk, he feels himself start to sober up. Mulder notices her struggling to keep up with his much longer strides. 

“Short stuff,” he chuckles under his breath, but slows his pace so they can walk side by side.

“Well, being short has its advantages. A lower center of gravity, for instance.” Dana cracks a smile. 

“Oh, really, and how is that helpful?” he deadpans.

“Well, I could take you down in a second,” she grins up at him. 

“You will have to prove it.” Mulder challenges. He realizes that they have already fallen into an easy repartee. Mulder has always been attracted to intelligent women, but something about Dana is different. Her dry wit and her steely confidence are endlessly appealing to him.

“Well, this is not a good place for a demonstration,” she says looking at the concrete sidewalk. Mulder can see her brain work, calculating the risks. This intrigues him, as he has always leaped and then looked later. ”And I don’t want to irreparably injure you.” 

“Well, seeing as we are both in the FBI now,” he stops walking and turns towards her. “Why don’t we meet up at the gym, and you can show me.” 

“Perhaps, but I must warn you, I am a lot stronger than I look,” she puts her hands on her hips. Her auburn hair takes on a vermillion glow under the streetlamp.

“I’m sure of it.” He says softly. Then he pulls her closer to him, and she smiles up at him. Her smile is luminous, and cuts through the darkness like a beacon. He thinks he might follow that smile anywhere, even to the ends of the earth. He puts his hand on her cheek, and she leans into him. He feels drunk now, but for a completely different reason. He can’t help but kiss her again. And his heart swells as she kisses him back ardently. Her fervent desire matches his own, and it’s a beautiful thing to behold. Breaking the kiss Mulder looks into her eyes. 

“Why don’t you come back to my place?” he asks tentatively. He thinks about making love to her properly. Then he remembers that his bedroom is in total disarray, files and magazines everywhere. When he’s not at Diana’s place he has been sleeping on his couch like a college frat boy. Maybe he should suggest a hotel, but that would imply that this is a one time thing. Mulder is pretty sure he doesn’t want this to be a one time thing. Dana looks down at her shiny black heels, and clears her throat. 

“I, uh, have a confession to make…” a guilty expression flits over her face. “I have a boyfriend. “

“You’re not just trying to get out of a second date, are you? “ he chuckles, trying to make her smile.

“This was a first date?” she raises her right eyebrow at him. He shrugs his shoulders, and wonders where he could take a woman like this on a second date. Certainly not your normal dinner and a movie situation. “I do really have a boyfriend, I promise.” When he looks into her eyes, there is an honesty that astounds him. “Actually, we just had a fight before I came over here. He wants to get married, and have kids right away. But, I am just starting with the Bureau, and there is still so much I want to accomplish.” She pauses and picks at her fingernail. ”Maybe I’m just not quite ready to settle down.” 

“I know it’s none of my business,” he pauses and takes her hand. “But you’ve worked really hard to get to this place in your career, and he should be more supportive of that.” He says earnestly. Dana’s eyes flash in surprise. “I don’t know, maybe he’s just not the right guy for you.” Maybe I am the right guy for you, he almost says, but doesn’t. 

“Yeah, maybe,” she sighs.

“Well, since we’re being honest…” he pauses feeling the regret sinking into his stomach. “I should tell you that I have a girlfriend.” His heart thumps in his chest. Dana’s face is free of judgement, but full of understanding. “I just found out today that she’s going to Europe on assignment.” When he looks into her eyes, they are open, honest. “I don’t think she was even going to tell me. I just happened to find the paperwork on her desk. She requested the transfer,” he finishes, trying to conceal the hurt in his voice. Something about Dana makes him feel comfortable with honesty, with being vulnerable. She twines her fingers with his, and something about this simple act feels so intimate.

“I’m sorry,” she says with absolute sincerity. Mulder is touched.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen tonight,” he says gazing into her eyes, mediterranean blue under the streetlamp.

“I know,” her voice comes in a strained whisper. There is something between them, something different. 

“Do you believe in fate?” He asks. Dana thinks for a moment before she answers. 

“Logically, I would have to say no. I think that it’s our choices that make us who we are,” she says with certainty. Mulder thinks that he might love her already.

“Well then we believe the same thing,” he says softly. Her smile is one that could bring peace to the middle east, or stop the earth spinning on its axis. He is smitten. 

“When can I see you again?” Mulder asks, heart on his sleeve. Dana reaches into her handbag, and produces a slip of paper and a pen. 

“Turn around,” she instructs. Mulder complies easily because he has a feeling that he would do anything she asked. As she writes, he feels her strong looping strokes against his back. 

“This is my number. Since we are both attached at the moment, I won't be offended if you don't call me,” she reaches up to kiss him again sweetly. “But, I hope you do.” She presses the slip of paper into his palm.

“I will,” he says softly, and he means it. He looks down at the name and number. When he looks up, he sees a taxi pulling up to the curb. Mulder grabs her elbow. “Weren't you going to say goodbye?” His voice is wistful.  
“No,” she opens the taxi door. “I guess I have the feeling that we will see each other again.“ 

With that she slides into the cab, and she is gone. As he watches the taillights disappear around the corner, he feels a strange sense of hope for the future. Then there is the damp smell of rain, mixed with the dirt and grime of the city streets. Mulder looks down to see the first drops splatter on the paper, making the fresh ink run and bleed. Soon the letters and numbers are gone leaving only a blue-black ink-blot. The rain grows harder stinging him, and soaking him through to the skin. What once was hope; washes away to leave a bitter well of regret. And there is Mulder standing in the rain, alone, like always.

Before Diana leaves for Europe, she promises that she will call. She vows that she will visit if she gets the chance. In all honesty, Mulder is not quite happy, but not quite sad to see her go. Diana sends him a few postcards from England and France, then slowly all communication fades between them. 

One day he finds the slip of paper from Dana. He wonders what she is up to, if she is still has that boyfriend. Mulder is an investigator, and he knows he could find her if he tried. But he is too invested in his work right now, maybe even obsessed. Besides, he has the feeling that he would only hurt her. That he would drive her away, like he does with everyone else. She is too perfect and too lovely in his memory. He should leave her there untouched. Mulder has the habit of maring everything he touches, she would break like glass in between his fingers. 

Months pass. One day he gets a memo; a new agent will be assigned to the X-Files. Some poor sap will be forced to share this tiny basement office with him. He already hates his new partner. He imagines some straightlaced balding doofus, who will certainly annoy him. Mulder crumples up the paper and tosses it in the wastebasket. 

One day he sets up a meeting with Skinner to tell him not to bother with this whole partner thing.

“You need someone, Agent Mulder,“ Skinner says with a tight jaw. 

“I don’t need a partner,” Mulder says petulantly. “I work best alone.” Skinner takes off his glasses and looks him in the eye. 

“There is nothing I can do about this anyway. This order came straight down from the top,” He whispers harshly. “Besides, you should know, that none of us get there alone.” Mulder leaves the office in a huff, slamming the door behind him. His anger masking what can only be hurt on the inside.  
He does his research on his new partner. He scoffs when he finds out that his new partner re-wrote Einstein for his senior thesis. This man Dana Scully must be a real cocky son of a bitch. Mulder reads it, and is surprised to find it rather intriguing. But he still doesn’t want him as a partner. Maybe agent Scully will meet him, and immediately request a transfer. Afterall, he’s spooky Mulder, right? He feels bitterness enveloping him, when he hears a knock on the door. 

“Sorry, nobody down here but the FBI’s most unwanted,” a joke that masks the truth. Then the door opens, and he sees her. His heart flops into his stomach. Mulder doesn’t know why he never considered the possibility that she would be his new partner. The last he knew she was about to start teaching at Quantico. He is struck. But she is all professionalism and nervous confidence. Pinning him with her intelligent blue eyes, she holds out her hand.

“Agent Mulder, I’m Dana Scully, I’ve been assigned to work with you,”


	2. Just this once

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A continuation of my AU "How They Met"

Chapter 2

When Dana Scully was first assigned to the X-Files by Blevins, she wasn’t going to wreck her career by revealing that she had a fling with Mulder. Was it even a fling? They had one night of ‘sexual activity,’ if you could even call it that. Every step towards his office was a struggle to gain control over her emotions. She wasn’t mad that he didn’t call her, not really, but she did always wonder. 

“Sorry, nobody down here but the FBI’s most unwanted,” he calls through the door. 

At that moment, you could hear a pin drop in that basement office. He looks a bit different than he did the night they met. His hair is a little longer, he’s wearing glasses. She steels herself. This is her new partner, and she is going to act professionally. Because that is who she is. Plus, if he’s going to pretend that they never met, then so will she.

“My name is Dana Scully,” she says, holding out her hand. “And I’ve been assigned to work with you.”

“Well isn’t it nice to suddenly be so highly regarded,” his tone is acerbic, almost self-deprecating. Even still she feels that same spark when he touches her hand. “So what did you do to get stuck on this detail, Scully.” She’s already having trouble reading him, but under the thick layer of sarcasm, she senses a wounded soul. 

\---

Their first case in Oregon is a whirlwind. She has trouble keeping up with Mulder’s insane leaps of logic. Yet still, she has never felt more passion, more intense fervor then she feels right now. It’s not just the abduction stories or the paranormal phenomena. It’s Mulder. The fire in his eyes engulfs her in a way she has never known before. It is electrifying and scary and strangely intoxicating. She warns herself against getting too attached. 

That night in her darkened motel room, she does her best to tamp down her emotions. Her body is strung up tight, her mind is going a million miles a minute. When she sees the red bumps on her back, her normally rational mind jumps to the worst conclusions. In a panic, she races towards Mulder’s room. The flickering flame is hot on her back, just like his breath. She’s too scared to even think about how she should’ve worn nicer underwear. Spooked. 

Mosquito bites.

Dana Scully is a professional woman, she is pragmatic and no-nonsense. Earning the respect of her mostly male colleagues is vitally important to her. She thinks about how foolish she must seem to him, how wet behind the ears. She has things to prove. To her family, to herself.

Then she’s laying on his motel room bed in her JCPenney robe that she had packed carefully for her first real case on the road. The intimacy of the moment is strange, and even she can feel all that left unfinished between them. 

“You don’t remember me, do you?” He asks as if he had been waiting years to say these words. Dana carefully considers his question, turning it around in her mind. “It was the night of your graduation from the academy…” His words hang in the air, opening up a space between them.

“Actually, I do remember you,” she says. How could I forget she wants to say but doesn’t. At this, he turns towards her, all boyish face and floppy hair. If she’s not careful...

“Then why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because you didn’t…” she drifts off, and he regards her carefully. “You said you’d call, and when you didn’t I just figured that was that.” 

“No, no, no… I…” he pauses to look up at her. “I know this is going to sound like a lame excuse, but your number… it kinda got ruined.” His explanation seems sincere, but she can’t help but be skeptical of the old ‘I wanted to call, but I lost your number’ routine.

“Listen, Mulder, you can be straight with me. I’m a big girl, I think I know a brush off when I see one,” she says picking at her fingernail. He climbs up on the bed next to her, but still, he doesn’t touch her.

“I...I thought about you all the time,” he rasps, and the tone of his voice makes her tingle a little. 

“You did?” She asks, trying to keep the hope out of her voice. But still she needs to protect her reputation, she needs to protect her heart. 

“Yes, I did.” He says, looking into her eyes. Her heart flutters in much the same way it did the first night they met. She tries to ignore it. A charged silence fills the room. "Are you seeing anyone?" He asks tentatively.

"No, I've been focusing on my career these last few years, dating just hasn't been a priority for me," she answers honestly.

"Well, I guess we're alike that way," he says softly.

This time she takes his hand. “So where does that leave us?”

“I don’t know…”

“Well the way I figure it, we have three options,” he pauses, and the way his eyes catch the candlelight in the darkened room makes her remember why she was so attracted to him from the moment she first saw him. “One, we continue to work together and pretend nothing ever happened. Two, you ask for a transfer, and I am left with a partner who will surely not match up to you in either intelligence or looks,” he says with a wink. Dana can’t help but smile.

“What’s the third option?” She asks, certifiably intrigued. 

“Well, the third option might sound a little… self-serving, but just hear me out,” he says. For some reason, Dana has the sense that he could convince her of anything if he really tried. 

“Okay, I’m all ears.”

“We could pick up where we left off two years ago… you know 'hop on the good foot and do the bad thing'," he waggles his eyebrows at her, and she rolls her eyes exaggeratedly. 

“Mulder, could you, for one second, try and not come onto me?” she asks giggling and playfully pushing his shoulder. “I have to say, your pick-up lines have not gotten any better.” Now it’s his turn to chuckle.

“This is not the first time I’ve been laughed at by a woman, and I’m sure it won’t be the last,” he snarks at her. 

“So seriously, you think the answer to our problem is for us to sleep together?” Her eyebrow raises high on her forehead. It’s not that she dislikes the idea per se, but things are a little more complicated than that.

 

“Well, yes, in a manner of speaking. Think about it. If we sleep together, then the element of the unknown is gone. We can just get it out of our system and move on.” 

“I don’t know… Mulder. We just started working together, and honestly, it’s hard enough to be a woman in this field. If I start sleeping with my partner, people will start to think that I am less than competent at my job.”

“Listen, I am not trying to convince you to do anything that you don’t want to do. This is totally up to you,” he says earnestly. “Plus, no one has to know. It’ll be off company time.” When he looks at her, she feels the same bolt of attraction that she did when they first met. It’s magnetic. Questions roll through her mind. Dana shakes her head and gets up from the bed. She needs time.

“So, should I take that as a no?” 

“You should take it as ‘maybe’,” she says, pulling her robe tightly around her. When she looks back from the door she gives him a slight grin. “Goodnight, Mulder.” 

“Night, Scully.”

\----

After the case is over. She is glad to be at home in her own bed. Yet, the idea of sleep seems almost trivial after what she’s seen this week. It’s not just Mulder, it’s the work. It has a kind of stimulating effect on her brain that she never knew she needed. She imagines that she could grow to need this, that she could grow to crave it. She doesn’t want to transfer or switch partners. The cases are unusual, but she likes the challenge. Maybe she can make a difference in the X-Files.

Completely without her consent, her thoughts return once again to Mulder. His brilliant mind, his crackpot theories, his eyes… his plump bottom lip. It was an instant attraction for both of them. She remembers the way his lips felt against hers when they first kissed. It was unforgettable. Yet, that night ended in such an unfinished fashion. Unfinished. 

Maybe Mulder is right.

She feels guilty when she calls the FBI switchboard line to ask for his address. She almost chickens out right before she gets in her car, and then again when she reaches up to his door to knock.

“Who is it?” he asks in a muffled voice. 

“Mulder, it’s uh… it’s me, Scully,” her voice sounds small, not confident the way she wanted it too. She just can’t help how nervous she is right now. When he opens the door, he’s wearing a cut-off purple shirt and running shorts.

“Sorry, I just got back from a run. I haven’t been able to take a shower yet, so you might not want to smell me,” he begins, making a face as he sniffs his armpit. Scully bites back a chuckle.“Is everything alright?” he asks, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the bottom of his shirt. She tries not to look at his stomach muscles but fails miserably. 

“Everything is fine. If this is a bad time, I can go. I don’t want to impose.”

“It’s not a bad time… come in.”

“So… I uh… I’ve been a lot thinking about our problem...” she begins, gathering as much courage as she can. He nods. “And I think there is only one logical solution,” she says, now close enough that she can smell his sweat, feel the humidity coming off of him in waves.

“What’s that?” he asks, staring intently at her. 

“This,” she says standing on her tip-toes and brushing her mouth against his. He gasps in shock, before eagerly responding to her. Scully tastes the salt of his upper lip, then the coffee on his tongue. It doesn’t take long for her to feel the same way she did on the night of her FBI academy graduation. 

When she breaks from him, she looks up into his eyes. “Just this once, though, okay,” she says, clearly attempting to set the rules. “We’re just getting it out of our system.”

“Okay,” he says, pulling her close. “Just this once.”

\---

To be continued in chapter 3...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like this and want more, hit the comments. That would make me so happy!


End file.
